The people of Apaa in Northern Uganda are once again facing brutal violence. Fresh attacks have claimed lives, including that of a two-year-old child, Agenorwot Patience; left several others seriously injured; and destroyed homes, livelihoods, and property. For a community that has already endured years of displacement, dispossession, and insecurity, this attack is not an isolated incident. It is part of a long and painful history of violence and injustice.
On 8 April 2026, armed attackers raided the areas of Lolai, Acholi Ber Teeyaa, and Gazi in Apaa. During the attack, homes were set on fire, livestock were killed, and crops in people’s gardens were destroyed. Approximately 25 huts were burned. Acayo Mary, Okwera Alfred, and Mr. Baluku were among those who sustained serious injuries and are currently receiving treatment at different health facilities. About 200 households have been displaced and are now sheltering at Acholiber Trading Center.
These attacks must not be reduced to a simple inter-community clash. What is happening in Apaa is rooted in a deeper crisis of land dispossession, insecurity, and a longstanding failure to protect the people who call this place home. For years, the people of Apaa have lived under threat, facing repeated violence, forced displacement, and uncertainty over their land and future.
The pain of this moment is even deeper because Apaa is a community that already survived the horrors of the LRA war. Many families carry the scars of displacement, loss, and trauma from that period. These fresh attacks reopen those wounds and force communities to relive memories they should never have had to carry again.
Mothers from Apaa who have lost children stand together with women from neighboring communities in solidarity, demanding justice and calling for an immediate end to this brutality. Their demand is urgent: the government must act now to end the violence, guarantee protection for the people of Apaa, and address the longstanding injustice that has left these communities unsafe on their own land.
Apaa should not have to keep surviving what should have ended long ago.
The killing must stop.
The displacement must end.
Justice must be done.
In solidarity with the people of Apaa.
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